The Mystery of the Alligator Swamp by Gertrude Chandler Warner

said.
    “I’ll help,” Eve volunteered.
    Gaston said, “I thought you were helping Swampwater, since Rose is going to be away.”
    “He won’t mind if I help Beau tomorrow morning,” Eve said. “Especially since I went on all the tours with him today.”
    Travis pushed his chair back. “It’s been an exciting day here at the camp, I’ll say that. Ghost alligators, lost camp guests, boats with bites taken out of them.” He shook his head. “I hope I won’t be too scared to sleep tonight.”
    “I don’t think you need to worry about that,” said Billie.
    She didn’t return Travis’s smile. After a moment, he left.
    “I don’t like him!” Benny burst out.
    “Shhh!” Jessie said.
    “I don’t think he cares if anybody likes him or not,” said Beau. “All he cares about is getting what he wants.”
    “The fishing camp,” said Henry.
    “Right,” said Beau. “Among other things.” His gaze shifted until he was staring at the large painting at the end of the restaurant.
    “Well, he’s not going to get it,” Billie said. “Ghost or no ghost. Let’s not waste any more time thinking about that.”
    “Who do you think changed all the signs in the swamp?” Violet asked.
    “Tourists,” said Gaston.
    “If tourists did that, wouldn’t they get lost themselves?” asked Jessie.
    Gaston turned to look at her. “You’re right,” he said, sounding surprised.
    “So it had to have been someone who knows his or her way around the swamp,” said Henry.
    “Right again,” said Gaston.
    “Well, that could be anybody who lives around here,” said Billie. “But it had to have been done today. Gaston and I were over there fishing yesterday afternoon and the signs were fine.”
    “Yep,” said Gaston.
    “And I had a couple of fishermen come in later this morning from that part of the swamp and they had no problem, so whoever did it had to have done it between lunch and the time you got over there, James,” Billie said to Grandfather Alden.
    Under her breath, Eve said, “The ghost alligator.”
    “What?” said Jessie, startled.
    Eve glanced at Billie as if she didn’t want her to overhear. “The ghost alligator,” she said. “You were going to Crying Bayou to try and catch it, right? The ghost paid you back by turning all the signs around.”
    The next day, the Alden children walked down the road toward Swampwater’s museum. But they weren’t going to the museum. They were going to follow the path that Beau had sneaked down the day before, after his mysterious meeting with Travis. The children knew that Beau and Eve had gone to put all the signs and channel markers back where they belonged. That would take a long, long time.
    “It couldn’t have been Eve who turned all the signs around, because she was on that swamp tour with Swampwater. We passed her, remember?” Violet said.
    “But she left right after we got back from our swamp tour yesterday morning,” Jessie said. “She was in a big hurry, too.”
    “I wonder where she went. And I wonder if she got back in time to help Swampwater and Rose on their morning tours,” said Henry.
    “It sure sounds as if Beau and Travis are in this together,” said Violet. “Especially after what we heard yesterday.”
    “It did sound as if Travis were trying to get Beau to agree to help him buy the restaurant from Billie,” agreed Violet.
    “I like Beau,” Benny said, skipping ahead. “I don’t like Travis.”
    “It is hard to believe Beau and Travis could be behind all this,” admitted Violet with a sigh.
    “It’s almost as hard to believe that Gaston or Swampwater might be,” said Henry.
    “Wait a minute,” said Jessie slowly. “What about Rose?”
    “We almost forgot about Rose,” said Henry. “Maybe because she hasn’t been around since yesterday morning.”
    “She said she had the afternoon off,” Benny said. “I remember.”
    “She did,” said Henry. “Swampwater also said she wasn’t around for the afternoon tour when